Can anyone throw 500'?

[Putt for D'oh]

Originally Posted by Brychanus

What I still don't quite have my head around is what happens in the 1000+ rating range. I think Steve West's data shows that distance becomes the biggest separator in that range. Then there's some residual effect of reliable "short range" (upshot+ touchy distance). Putting matters less because players are generally very good putters in that rating range. So I suppose the takeaway as you get close to the top is "everyone is pretty good at everything, so if you're also a reliable crusher you get the edge"?

Pretty much yes. I like to compare distance to sprint speed in other sports. there are a lot of skills and factors into what makes a player great in various sports but pure speed often elevates those who are great, but not necessarily top of the game in those other aspects. if that makes sense. Sometimes you just cant replace speed. Same can be true of distance off the tee.

[Skervoy]

It does make sense that distance is the edge at the top, everbody can generate reliable power to put and upshot so those shots they can all practice as much as they need to get really good.

Getting Conrad to Eagle distance might be almost impossible without maybe screwing other aspects or his body. So Eagle most likely will always have an definitive edge but then of course injuries etc are also big factors

[kevdiv48]

Originally Posted by Tinkles

I'd still like to see some videos of the folks with bad form that throw 400'+ if anyone is willing to share.

A middling MA2 player throwing in the 400-420 range with a PLine Hurricane [video is from 2019 but my form hasn't changed much].

[Rastnav]

Originally Posted by Brychanus

Quick scatterplot of these data for the Advanced division. Pearson's R is ~0.48, or only 23% shared variance between rating and max distance. Looks like the relationship flattens out as you approach a 950 rating or so.

Small sample, but perhaps consistent w/ the idea that from low/mid/upper 900s other separators like approaches, putts, overall consistency in distance+accuracy (as these are max distance drives), available lines etc. may account for more variance.

It's worth thinking about how the courses amateurs play to get their ratings may be different than the ones pros play. If the overall pool of advanced amateurs rarely play holes where greater than 400 foot shots generate better scoring, then more max distance greatly diminishes in value. It's not the max distance isn't of value, it's just generating marginally less value for every foot over 400 because of the specific holes they are playing.

Conversely, at the MPO DGPT level, you regularly see holes that greatly reward longer throws, with courses designed to regularly challenge pro players distance ceilings, so you expect to see that as more of a separator.

There is also something to the idea that people who have accurate distance over 400 stop playing at the amateur level.